Today's news summary, Aug. 15, 2013

NEWS: Two men were shot today in separate incidents in the City of Poughkeepsie. At about 12:11 a.m. city police responded to the area of Eastman Terrace for the report of a man shot. Officers found a 23-year male city resident who had been shot. The victim was transported to the hospital where he is undergoing treatment for a non-life threatening gunshot wound. In another incident, at about 12:30 p.m. police responded to the area of Bartlett Park for a report of shots fired. At the same time police were dispatched to Church Street for a report of a person shot. Police determined the victim at Church Street was shot while riding in a vehicle on Hooker Avenue near Bartlett Park. The 21-year old male shooting victim was transported to the hospital where he is being treated for a non-life threatening gunshot wound. At this time it is unknown if the two shooting are related, police said.

A Staatsburg man, Joseph Leary, 61, died this morning when the truck he was driving left the roadway and struck a residence on Jockey Hill Road in the Town of Kingston, state police said. Leary was operating his 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck eastbound when he left the road, struck the front of the building and came to rest overturned in the driveway. The owner of the home and her 5-year-old son were home but were uninjured despite the substantial damage caused to the house, troopers said. The cause of the accident is under investigation.

State labor officials said today that the Hudson Valley region showed a growth in jobs of just under 1 percent in a year's time. The 0.9 percent increase in total nonfarm jobs was all in the private sector, which grew 1.4 percent, while the government sector continued to show a 1.7 percent shrinkage versus July of 2012. The state Department of Labor also reported that the statewide unemployment rate was 7.5 percent. While the jobs growth in the seven-county Hudson Valley region looked strong, and was double the rate seen over the same period last year, it was less robust in the mid-Hudson. The area covering Orange and Dutchess counties rose by only a tenth of a percent overall from July 2012 to July 2013. Again, that growth was all in the private sector, which rose by 1,500 jobs, or 0.7 percent, while government shrank by 1,300 jobs, or 2.8 percent.

More than 200 home improvement contractors, including more than two dozen locally, reached agreements with the state for allegedly violating state law by failing to provide written contracts to customers and skirting other laws, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said today. Schneiderman said the 211 home improvement contractors violated various parts of the state's Home Improvement Contracts Law. The contractors included 48 in the Binghamton area, 31 in Buffalo, 28 in Rochester and 27 in Poughkeepsie. The contractors signed an agreement to end the unlawful conduct and pay penalties and fines up to $1,500 because of the investigation by Schneiderman's office, he said in a news release. He said the charges dealt largely with contractors not putting contracts in writing or not putting deposits for the work into specific bank accounts.

A Poughkeepsie man who shot his girlfriend in the face was sentenced in Ulster County Court today to 18 years in prison, according to a press release from the Ulster County District Attorney's Office. Jorge Marrero, 27, William Street, Poughkeepsie, was sentenced on first-degree assault. On Oct. 14, the woman, identified as Lauren W., was dropped off at Saint Francis Hospital emergency room. "She had been shot in the face at close range with what appeared to be a small caliber weapon," according to the press release. City of Poughkeepsie police later determined the shooting had apparently occurred in Ulster County.

SPORTS: he Hudson Valley Renegades return to Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill tonight for their first home game in 11 days, against the Brooklyn Cyclones.

COMING TOMORROW: In Enjoy!, read the interview with renown cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who teams up with bass player Edgar Meyer, mandolin player Chris Thile and fiddle player Stuart Duncan for "The Goat Rodeo Sessions." Guest vocalist Aoife O'Donovan will join them in concert Friday at Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Sullivan County, on the site that hosted the Woodstock Music and Art Fair in August 1969.

WEATHER: Clear skies and a low of around 50 are expected tonight, according to the National Weather Service. Tomorrow, more sun and a high near 80 is in store.

To read the complete versions of these stories, click "Top News" in the navigation of your tablet site, iPhone or Android app or the Journal's mobile site, m.poughkeepsiejournal.com. You can also visit www.PoughkeepsieJournal.com.

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Today's news summary, Aug. 15, 2013

Two men are shot in separate incidents in the City of Poughkeepsie, a Staatsburg man dies in an accident and the Hudson Valley gained jobs in July.